Page 3

HALLIE

I avoided the training centre and the gym for the next week, and though I knew Solace followed me to the bus each night, he never walked beside me again after our heart shattering, panty-staining conversation.

Though each night I sent him a picture of my doormat, or my cat, or my slippers. And once, my bed.

And each night he replied the same way.

Solace: Thank you, beautiful. I’ll be in the gym early in the morning.

No pressure, nothing. Somehow, weirdly, I felt more protected than ever.

Which left me back in the office, doing my job and being kind of…normal. Only I wasn't, because every time one of the team came in, I checked.

And not once, not one single time, did Solace enter the office in the last week. After touching me, the way he spoke, taunting, teasing…so much more than a simple water cooler flirtfest.

Or was it? Maybe this was his brand of flirting, and I bought too much into it. But I didn't think so. I doubted the other boys asked for shots of their casual fling’s beds, or checked they got home. Maybe they did. I hadn’t been part of enough healthy relationships to know.

All I did know was that Solace Hunter offered the best and worst distraction of my short lived career and if I didn’t get my head out of the locker room, I wouldn’t have one.

A head, or a career.

I stared at the green cells on my spreadsheet. I had no idea what the data set was meant to be or how long I’d been looking at it. The information merged the longer I tried to focus and couldn’t. When I grabbed for my coffee not only was there a scant inch of liquid left in my oversized thermos, the whole lot had long gone cold.

A quick check on my screen told me it was past lunchtime. That’s how long I’d stared fruitlessly at the screen pining over a muscular Chimera who I couldn’t have anyway. Sighing, I pushed back from my desk and ignored the gaggle at the water cooler who had probably congregated there since their training session ended after morning tea. That was when the team’s photoshoot for this week’s media started, and the social gatherings across the office took off.

I’d become mostly immune to the comings and goings after my recent habitual Solace check, annoying as that had become. And it seemed that Janelle had indeed been inducted into team WAG sometime in the last week by the team’s captain, Huxley Radfield, while I let myself be distracted by a certain defender of my own.

But he’s not your own.

And I wasn’t—nor would I ever be—his.

The thought was so ridiculous I couldn’t even try to play with it. Solace had his pick of any woman he wanted. He could flirt, or whatever, all he liked with me but at the end of the day I was a barely graduated marketing nobody. An overweight, lonely girl who lived alone and ignored her cat too often.

And my last relationship with a hockey player ended disastrously. Thankfully that was a long time ago, and I never looked back.

Mooning over my cold coffee, I headed for the small staff kitchenette that doubled as the meeting place for pretty much everyone and squeezed into the corner that held the toaster, my crappy instant coffee, and my avocado collection. All three were fairly safe as the rest of the staff and hangers on who preferred the snob’s version of coffee. While I could afford to drink it, I couldn't justify the cost on my meagre wage, and I knew bread wasn’t an option for the majority of the WAGS.

So, my avocado collection was thankfully safe on all counts.

Humming away to myself, I buttered my bread, made my coffee with extra milk and sliced my avocado. In what was probably my third worst decision of the day, I slathered the whole thing onto my toast when I judged it had literally a few hours left of ultimate ripeness before it turned into that horrific state where dark spots appeared and then there would be no saving it.

A true tragedy.

My rescue strategy seemed a whole lot kinder, and I fully intended to enjoy my feast. I raised my toast to my mouth.

“You know how fattening those things are.”

The toast stopped due to the proximity of the voice. I closed my eyes, still facing the corner and risked moving my toast closer to home.

“I mean, if you eat anything else, we’ll have to put you somewhere in the back where you can’t be seen.”

Silence fell over the kitchen.

I opened my eyes, and swivelled around on my heel to find Janelle smirking at me and my avocado toast. Mindy glared at me over her shoulder. Apparently the promotion to team WAG hadn’t done either of them any favours.

But that wasn’t about to be Today Hallie’s problem. I had no idea where the push came from. Maybe Solace's flirting gave me an extra confidence boost. Maybe it was insanity and a career death defying move. Who knew. I remembered how reckless I’d been standing before him outside the office building.

A grin crossed my face, born of the same kind of mad energy from that night. I pushed the entire quarter of toast that should have taken a whole lot longer to eat into my mouth, moaning and chewing loudly.

Really, over the top, food-porn loud.

Enough that they could have heard me in the training room. Maybe in the offices, too.

The WAGS mouths fell open as I chewed. I reached back blindly for the rest, getting avocado all over my hands, and stuffed that in, too.

“So good,” I moaned, playing it right up and getting really, really messy.

Childish, such a bad idea, and I’d pay for it later not so subtly with these girls.

But by God was it worth it in that moment to see the shock on their faces.

More heads popped into the kitchen from the open doors at both ends. Faces I recognized as players from the team, and some of the sponsors. I gave someone—I didn’t recognise who—a saucy wink as I managed to swallow, and that someone groaned.

I tossed my hair over my shoulders, and finished the whole show off by licking my fingers loudly in the utter silence that otherwise filled the area. With what felt like a hundred eyes locked on me, I turned to wash my hands. Heat crept up my cheeks as I realized what I’d just done, but now was not the time for shame. I refused flat out to wear someone else’s insecurities.

I might not be dating a player, and I might not wear a flashy ring, but that didn’t mean I had to put up with someone else’s judgement about what I wore or how—or what—I ate at work.

Hell, tomorrow I could do the same again with melted chocolate. Normalize this shit.

My head held high, I turned back around ready to face the consequences of my actions and came face to chest with a seething hockey player, his heart beating loud and fast enough I could hear it from the outside.

Likely so could everyone else in the vicinity.

I raised my eyes to meet Solace’s and he was furious.

Anger radiated from him as he glared down at me. Fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. A muscle ticked in his jaw as his thick, muscular thighs that were the stuff of legend the country round pressed mine back into the bench.

Three words made it past his bared teeth before he gripped my wrist in an unbreakable hold. “With me. Now .”

I might not have minded the way he gave orders before. I kind of didn't even mind how he stalked me in the parking lot in what became our personal evening ritual. Built this, right here? This was too far. Too much like staking a claim.

I couldn’t do this. Not again.

“No. Nuh uh, Solace. Not a–”

Typical him, I never got a chance to finish that sentence. His grip solidified as he hauled me out of the kitchen so fast that I stopped talking just to concentrate on keeping my feet from tripping over each other. Mindy flipped me off as I sailed past her.

I had no recourse but to follow Solace as he yanked me along behind him down the hall, trying locked doors. He snapped up a lanyard with a swipe key from a hook and turned down a corridor, trying the next office. That one gave.

Solace pushed the door open, towing me inside. I stumbled across the threshold, turning on him as he shut the door gently and locked us in.

“What the hell was that?” I started, storming forward. “You can’t just?—”

“Me? The hell did you think you were doing?” He turned back to face me.

I faltered at the undisguised lust written across his face aimed right at me, so close. Because my little tantrum reduced the space between us and brought me within arm’s reach of the Chimeras’ defender which seemed suddenly like a really bad, bad decision.

“Solace,” I whispered, back pedalling.

But my chance to escape him faded as he took up the offensive, stalking toward me. One arm latched around my waist, pulling me into his body even as he continued to pace forward, propelling me backward. The other swept out behind me and cleared everything off the sponsor’s desk.

“You can’t do that—” I objected.

“Those noises you made in that room belong to me,” he hissed in my face.

In a single breath he lifted me off the ground and planted my ass on the corner of the desk so my legs parted. He leaned over me until I scrambled backward but since he refused to let me go the only place I could go was downward. Cowering.

This is so bad.

Breath evacuated from me as I scraped at the desk with one hand, the other knotting in his shirt. “Solace, stop. This isn’t a good?—”

“The only sounds I want to hear out of you right now are either more of what you did in the kitchen, only just for me this time, or begging me to fuck you,” he snapped, releasing me with one hand to rake his fingers through his hair.

I stared at him, my mouth open as my heart slammed into my ribcage and–stopped.

“What?”

“Make those fucking moans for me, Hallie.” His voice softened a touch. “Do that for me, and I’ll find out how well we fit on this damn desk together.”

Swallowing on a dry throat was another bad idea but my brain jammed, and nothing seemed to make it through. “You can’t be serious,” I murmured, choking on a disparaging laugh. “This is me , Solace. I’m not one of the girls out there.”

“I don’t want them. I want you.” He glared into my eyes as though his desire was my personal fault.

I shook my head. “You’re insane. No one wants me.”

“Stop it.” His grip tightened as he ground his groin into me, and there was plenty of evidence right there. “I fucking want you. Hell, girl. I can barely sleep for wanting you. The earlier you get here, the earlier I have to arrive each morning to know you’re safe on your own. Same at night. Shit, I’ve considered following you home just to wait outside your window and see your lights go on and off. Sleep in the car, maybe.” He panted a little, his enormous palms dwarfing my arms where he squeezed me rhythmically as he spoke.

“Wait, you’re serious?” I whispered. “Solace— I don’t have a good dating history. Especially with hockey players.”

“So you just want to fuck, then?” His growl ripped through me.

I shook my head, flinging my hair around my face. “No. No. I’m not doing casual with you. I— I can’t do that.”

I tore my gaze away, unwilling to read the disappointment in his face. Unable to believe I just said that. This was Solace Hunter. For fuck’s sake, if there was anyone in my life to fuck around with, it was this man.

“Good. I don’t want that either.” His breath came heavy on my neck. “But I’m still going to fuck you.”

“What?” I gripped his shoulders, barely able to close my fingers around some of the muscle there. “Dammit. You’re too big.”

He laughed, the sound low and dark. “Oh, beautiful. You have no idea.” His hand covered mine as he shoved my palm between us and closed it around his erection straining through his jeans.

I couldn't grasp him there any more than I could his shoulders.

My whimper filled the room as the scent of my arousal drifted between us. “Baby Jesus.”

His smile bordered on cruel, and it set off something twisted inside me. “There’s that sound I wanted to hear.” His hands skated along my thighs, squeezing hard enough to bruise, digging his fingers into my flesh beneath. “Fuck what they all want or look like, Hallie. I need a girl who’s soft and plump beneath me. Someone I can sink into. Someone who hears me here. ” Solace tapped my forehead. “I don’t need someone hard. That’s my damn job, you understand?”

Unyielding eyes glinted, almost maniacal as I lost myself in him, leaning back when he pushed me down onto the desk.

“I understand,” I whispered.

“Good.” He traced the seams on the insides of my purple tights beneath my short, black skirt. “I like these.”

“I like them too,” I admitted.

“Then I’ll buy you more.” His hand gripped right over my pussy and ripped hard.

The tearing sound barely covered the yelp that tore from me, but it didn’t matter. His mouth slammed over mine, swallowing my small scream as his fingers found bare flesh and pushed inside.

I screamed again as he fingered me brutally. Solace swallowed those noises too, his tongue echoing the motion between my legs. He was everywhere, arched over me, filling my mouth and my pussy. Thick fingers, thick tongue, bruising, leaving me aching for more of him.

Barely able to breathe, I twisted beneath him but he refused to let me up. My hips bucked against the heel of his hand that rubbed my clit. The world whitened out within seconds as my breath stuttered, and his free hand caught the back of my head before it thumped onto the desktop.

“Christ, Hallie. So wet and tight.” The manic light never left his dark eyes as he came back into focus. “I can’t wait to stretch that pretty little pussy out.”

I whimpered as he played between my legs, each movement making a horrific sloshing sound that drew heat from my nipples to my cheeks and somehow managed to increase my arousal rather than dampen it.

“This is— we—” I gasped sentence fragments, my legs shaking.

“Tonight I'll stay late. In the gym,” Solace panted above me, rubbing himself against my body. “You’ll wear these tights wet and open like this for the rest of the day. I want you to think about how drenched you are right now, the sorts of noises you’re making for me. When your work is finished, and you can’t stand it anymore, I want you to come and find me. Then we can do something about this.” He withdrew his fingers and tapped my pussy once, twice. I screamed softly as the wet sound reverberated around us. “Do you understand?” His mouth crashed against mine before I could answer.

I nodded frantically through his kiss. “I understand, Solace.”

“Good girl,” he breathed, trailing kisses along my jaw as he toyed gently between my legs like I was his personal playground. “So beautiful. Fuck, I can’t wait to see all of you bare for me.”

A low moan filled the space between us and it took a moment before I figured out it came from me.

Solace closed his eyes, sucking in a shuddering breath. “Do that again and I’ll fuck you right now,” he murmured, squeezing my thighs with wet fingers.

I stilled, trying to close my hands around his wrists, and failed. He nodded, seeming to get himself under control, and pulled me back up.

“You gonna be all right for the rest of the day?” HIs lips touched the corner of mine in a barely there kiss I struggled to associate with the man who just tore me a new one–literally.

“I think I like it when you’re gentler,” I confessed, tugging my skirt down and avoiding his eyes.

His knuckles caught beneath my chin, forcing my face to his. Reluctantly, I met his gaze, losing myself in those charcoal eyes instantly.

“As long as you keep that sort of behavior between just us from now on, I’ll stay gentle with you. But moan like that where my boys can hear?” His hand wrapped around my nape, dragging me closer. “Beautiful, I’ve got limits. I don’t share, and you’re mine.”

I struggled to breathe. “You don’t have a claim on me.” The room shrank to just us, too tight.

I can't do this again.

It’s different this time.

I closed my eyes, squeezed them shut tight.

“Look at me, Hallie,” he ordered.

I took a full breath in and out while he massaged the back of my neck before I managed to open my eyes, shocked when they filled with tears. “I can’t do this again.”

“Tell me.” The same order, but gentler this time.

He had promised.

“I—” I bit my lip, starting without meaning to let the words out. I’d never told anyone else what happened with Travis. Just let the media believe we fell apart for all the reasons a girl like me didn’t suit a pro hockey player. “He liked puck bunnies,” I whispered. “After games when I–he’d send me home. And I–” I swallowed, refusing to cry for a heart broken long ago. “I’ve never been one of them.”

Solace’s face hardened. “He cheated on you?”

I nodded, but the hurt there was still so raw, even after three years. “Yes,” I said unsteadily, and looked down.

He let me, folding his arms around my body and pulled me in close. “You need to cry?”

I sniffled. “No.”

“Liar.” I could hear the smile in his voice before it changed. “You ever cry?”

“Too many nights.”

“Not anymore. Cry now if you need. After tonight you stay with me. If you cry after that, then it’s for a different reason.” His lips grazed my ear. “I can teach you pleasure in denial and I can make you cry, beautiful. Want me to teach you that?”

A frisson of need rippled over my skin. “I’m so out of my depth,” I whispered, shocked my nipples hardened at his filthy words.

Solace laughed, cupping my breast and squeezing gently as though he already knew my body’s reaction. “Let me teach you everything.” He kissed my temple. “Let me show you what it’s supposed to be like.”

I risked looking up at him, unsure if his promises would give me all that he offered…or if he’d break me.

Dark eyes stared down into mine, unflinching.

This was the man who followed me each night for months. Who tried to scare me and made sure I got home safely. Who protected me and wanted me above everything else.

Who might be worth the risk.

Worrying my bottom lip between my teeth, I nodded once, and prayed I wasn’t making a mistake.

“All right,” I breathed, hating the way my voice broke, hating how I trembled in his arms.

Though he seemed to love that from the way his hands tightened on me.

“Tonight.”